Intel has just announced its new line of processors, called Ivy Bridge, which uses a new type of transistor to reach the 22nm production process as well as maintain Moore's Law. They call it the 3D transistor, and in all honesty, this stuff goes way over my head. Even the incredibly cheesy n00b-video from Intel doesn't really make any lightbulbs appear in my head. So...

...that makes this kind of hard to talk about, even though it's kind of a big deal. Intel claims that the new type of transistor will lead to serious reductions in power consumption, while delivering more power. It allows Intel to extend Moore's Law, despite doubts over whether the industry would be able to or not. These things have been in development for nearly a decade.

"The performance gains and power savings of Intel's unique 3-D Tri-Gate transistors are like nothing we've seen before," said Mark Bohr, Intel Senior Fellow, "This milestone is going further than simply keeping up with Moore's Law. The low-voltage and low-power benefits far exceed what we typically see from one process generation to the next. It will give product designers the flexibility to make current devices smarter and wholly new ones possible. We believe this breakthrough will extend Intel's lead even further over the rest of the semiconductor industry."

And, here is the cheesy video.

Intel is plans to ship the new type of transistor in the second half of this year, and they will be deployed across the entire spectrum of Intel processors - so not just in the top range.